Dr. Harald Heckmann (06.12.1924 – 05.11.2023)
On behalf of RIdIM, we extend our sincere condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Dr. Harald Heckmann.
Dr. Heckmann was a musicologist, editor of musical works, former director of the Kassel Music History Archive (1954-1971), chairman of the German Broadcasting Archive (1971-1991), and the co-founder and 1989 co-President of the Répertoire International d’Iconographie Musicale (RIdIM). He held numerous honorary posts, including the Chairman of the Music Advisory Board and Member of the Administrative Board of the German National Library. From 1959 to 1974 Dr. Heckmann was the General Secretary of the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centers (IAML) and its President from 1974 to 1976; from 1960 to 1980 he was Secretary of the Répertoire International des Sources Musicales (RISM), and subsequently its President until 2004, and also the co-founder of the Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale (RILM), serving as its Vice-President from 1969 and until 1992. He served as chairman of the Editorial Committee of Documenta musicologica (DMI) and Catalogus musicus, and as president of the International Schubert-Society (1990-2003). Finally, Dr. Heckmann was a member of the Library Committee of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) from 1985 to 1991, and, from 1975 member of the Advisory Board of the Deutsche Bibliothek, and its chairman from 1982 to 1992.
Dr. Heckmann made significant contributions to the international understanding and cooperation between music libraries. He was awarded the Kassel City Medal in 1979, the Golden Mozart Pin of the International Mozarteum Foundation in 1988, and the Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2000.
Photo: Barry S. Brook (left), Harald Heckmann (right), on the occasion of the foundation of RIdIM during the IAML Conference, St. Gallen (Switzerland), 1971